The impact of the birth and survival of a very low birth weight preterm (PT: less than 1501 grams) infant upon maternal life history will be examined. With the advent of newborn intensive care and technology, children born very low birth weight have increasingly higher survival rates in Western societies. None of these children would have survived 30 years ago and still do not survive today in less industrialized societies. This presents a novel situation for Western mothers who prior to this time would not expect their children to live.